Biochemistry. 2021 Sep 07;60(35):2637-2651. doi: 10.1021/acs.biochem.1c00316. Epub 2021 Aug 26.
Biochemistry
Ujjayini Ghosh, David P Weliky
PMID: 34436856 PMCID: PMC8577873 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.1c00316
An early step in cellular infection by a membrane-enveloped virus like HIV or influenza is joining (fusion) of the viral and cell membranes. Fusion is catalyzed by a viral protein that typically includes an apolar "fusion peptide" (fp) segment that binds the target membrane prior to fusion. In this study, the effects of nonhomologous HIV and influenza fp's on lipid acyl chain motion are probed with